Kells Road Races to go ahead this year

Kells Road Races is to go ahead this year after a three-year absence, it has been announced.

At a committee meeting last night, the decision was taken that the road races event will run in 2026.

Kells Road Races made the announcement on its Facebook Page last night with further details to be announced in the coming weeks.

Assistant Chairman and PRO Dave McCabe said planning is now in "full swing".

He said: "Following on from our decision to run Kells Road Races 2026, a full consultation process will take place with our fantastic residents, Meath County Council and An Garda Síochána.

"Planning for Kells Road Races 2026 is now in full swing.

Exciting times ahead for the club and we look forward to releasing more details in due course."

The popular event is a highlight of the motorcycle racing events calendar and took place each June in Crossakiel attracting participants from around the country.

The last Kells Road Race took place in 2022 but due to the crippling cost of insurance, no road races took place in the Republic of Ireland in 2023, 2024 or 2025.

Kells Road Races’ annual ride out at Park Ri, Kells, which aims to get as many motorcyclists as possible together in one place for a ride out continued to take place and has been a big fundraiser for local charities. The annual classic run, which took place during the road races weekend also continued.

Ahead of the holding of the club's AGM, the Meath Chronicle recently spoke with Dave who outlined that they were working towards hosting the event and that they were hopeful that Kells Road Races would return this year though nothing was definite at that stage.

Speaking about the impact of not being able to have the races, Dave said it has been "tough".

"The appetite has been there. A lot of people have stayed involved. We’ve tried to stay positive. We were always trying to think of new ideas to make it happen and we are working on a few new ideas at the moment too."